Preparing to Apply

Università Bocconi offer the following PhD programs:

• PhD in Business Administration and Management - curriculum Management
  (four-year program; taught in English)

  • Download the short call 
     
  • Planned study program, 2025-2026 (cycle 41°)
     

   

PhD in Business Administration and  Management - curriculum Management

Official call publishing                                                 15 April 2025

Application opening date                                             From 15 April 2025 

Application closing date                                              15 May 2025

PhD admission results
(personal email about
 admission results)                                                       by 4 June 2025

The enrollment of the qualified candidates (see Selection Criteria) takes place with 2 merit-based fellowships, fully funded by Tech Europe Foundation (hereinafter referred to as “TEF”) and offered within the XLI Cycle.
 

Applications can be submitted by candidates of any citizenship who:
- have completed or are completing their graduate studies and 
- have at least a “proven” B2 (CEFR) level of competence in English

Graduate qualifications accepted:
- Italian degrees: second level degrees ("laurea magistrale") 
- non-Italian degrees of equivalent level (e.g. level 7 European Qualification Framework) recognized by the Admission Board

Your competence in English must be shown by a recognized international English language certificate/test; in case of international test (TOEFL, IELTS) the result must be still valid (not expired). You will have to upload the English language certificate/test to the on-line application procedure (click here to check the list of recognized certificates/tests and the minimum scores required - at least a B2 CEFR level) or, if you do not have a recognized international certificate/test, you will have to self-declare in the online application procedure that you:

- are an English native speaker
- attended a University program in English
- attended a secondary school program in English (please, upload the certificate)
- passed the internal English exam in a Bocconi degree program
- have other reasons (please, specify them). 

Applicants whose Italian or non-Italian degree qualifications are still pending on the final application date, can take part in the selection for all PhD programs and will be admitted conditionally. They must be awarded the required degree by 31 October 2025, or their enrollment will be void.
Certifications of required qualifications must be produced by 10 December 2025.

For the PhD in Business Administration and Management - curriculum Management, the assessment is based on a candidate’s:

• curriculum vitae (indispensable);
• academic records (indispensable);
• international graduate admission tests scores (GMAT or GRE);
• statement of purpose (indispensable);
• up to two reference letters.

The Admission Board may decide to conduct a brief online interview in order to get clarification about the student’s qualifications.

A minimum of 60 total points is required to be eligible for admission to the above PhD program.

A wide range of information is needed in order to assess the applicants' strengths and potential for academic success. In particular, the following elements are considered:

• Personal curriculum: Full CV (education, work experience, language skills, study/work abroad, other relevant skills and experiences);
• Academic records: transcript of exams and certification of undergraduate (6 EQF) and graduate (7 EQF) degrees awarded and final grade (if any); if the graduate program has not been completed*, an enrollment document with the full study plan , the exams taken and the grades achieved; 
   
• International Graduate Admission Tests scores: Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) with date and results. These tests are not relevant for the PhD in Legal Studies. IMPORTANT: date of the test: not before 15 April 2020; GMAT/GRE score reports must be uploaded by the candidates in the online procedure:score reports sent to Bocconi University by GMAC Customer Service (GMAT) and ETS (GRE) are not accepted;
• Statement of purpose: short description (max 1200 words) of your motivation for enrollment in Bocconi PhD programs, your research interests and professional goals;

• Reference letters: up to three reference letters uploaded by referees appointed in the on-line application procedure. Referees can be academic (first best) or non-academic (second best);

  
  *Applicants who have not achieved a degree are allowed to apply, but they must obtain the degree by 31 October 2025, or their enrollment will be void.

All documents have to be in English, except for those regarding the academic records, which can be in Italian, and publications, which can be in any language.

In order to close the application and be evaluated, the following documents (sections: personal details, language requirements, academic records, statement of purpose, research proposal) are strictly required:

• Personal CV;
• Documentary evidence of English language competence (except English native speakers): international certification/test, university or high school studies in English, …;
• Academic records;
• Statement of purpose;
• Research proposal (only for the PhD in Legal Studies);
   
• Copy of the international passport;
• Passport format photo.

Documents of the remaining sections (e.g. GRE/GMAT) contribute to increasing your score in the final ranking, but they are not indispensable. 
 

We suggest that you download and print out the following table which lists all documentation that should be submitted. Should you need information about data and/or documents, contact phdadmission@unibocconi.it

You have to apply exclusively through the on-line application procedure which is available here from 15 April 2025. The deadline for submitting the application is 15 May 2025  at 23:59 CET.

This deadline is not negotiable.

Please, consult the Technical Guidelines (available here) before starting the online application procedure.

The recommended browser to apply is Google Chrome.

In order to complete your application, you will have to:

• register in order to obtain Personal ID and password; please note that Bocconi students already have the required credentials;
• enter the information in the spaces provided;
• upload some documents;
• submit the application.

For technical issues, please contact our Help Desk at: phdhelp@unibocconi.it

Should you need information about data and/or documents you need to submit, please contact phdadmission@unibocconi.it

Applicants are ranked according to merit. 

The ranking of each public competition is published on https://www.unibocconi.it/en/programs/phd/admissions in compliance with data privacy laws (privacy is guaranteed).

By 4 June 2025 you will receive a personal e-mail to the address you provided on-line containing information about the outcome of your application.

You will be able to access the on-line procedure using your ID and password, accessing more information, in particular:
 

• if your status is “with fellowship”: points awarded, ranking and financial conditions;
• if your status is “in the waiting list”: points awarded and ranking;
• if your status is “not admitted”: points awarded

TEF fellowships (see art. 2 of the present call) are awarded to the best ranked students, in relationship to the number of available fellowships.

The 4-year merit–based fellowship amounts to € 27,000 for year 1 and € 23,000 for year 2, 3 and 4.

Fellowships can be renewed in the following years if the requirements to be admitted to the following year are met.

Income from the fellowship is tax free.

The amount of the fellowship is subject to INPS contributions (INPS = National Social Security Institute).

Part of contributions are borne by the University (currently 23.35%) and part by the student (currently 11.68%).

The amount of the student fellowship is gross; the part of contributions borne by the student is directly deducted from each monthly gross instalment of the fellowship and transferred to INPS.

For study and research activities abroad (at least one month, full months only) authorized by the PhD Program Director, the fellowship is increased by 50% of € 16,243 (ministerial amount) in proportion to the duration of the stay abroad and for a maximum total period of 12 months (saved exceptional cases provided for by the law).

For further details about financial matters concerning PhD programs, refer to Bocconi PhD Programs - Handbook (https://www.unibocconi.eu/phds) (art. 7 and art. 8).
 

PhD students can supplement their income with part time remunerated work for the university;

in particular:

- research assistantship from the second year (as an exception, during the first year, subject to Dean’s approval);

- teaching assistantship /teaching from the second year.

These activities must be previously authorized by the PhD Director, as students are above all committed to their PhD research and activities.

Moreover:

- all PhD students (with and without fellowship) are granted a research contract (min 7,000 € and maximum, based on merit, 17,000 €; gross amount) to cover the “PhD candidate period” (from the end of year 4 to thesis dissertation).

- in compliance with Italian law, all PhD students (with and without fellowship) are provided with an annual budget (1,650 € per year) for “study and research activities” (the use of the budget is always subject to the Program director approval). 

The 1st year budget is earmarked to the acquisition of a laptop that will be given to the student as of the start of the 2nd year (no return at PhD conferral).

The budget of the following years (2nd, 3rd and 4th year) is meant to allow the purchase of services and goods to support study and research activities.

- all PhD students (with and without fellowship) are offered by the PhD School a financial support for placement (i.e. travel expenses to relevant events and workshops). The PhD School offers training and procedural support to be successfully placed on the job market (Academia) (PhD students are given the opportunity to attend conferences to present their papers, meet scholars of other universities and participate in job markets events).

- PhD students also benefit from a Health Insurance Policy subscribed by Bocconi which covers accidents when involved in work-related activity at Bocconi and when travelling (the travel must be previously authorized by the Program Director).

All PhD students are required to pay the current annual regional tax of € 140, whose amount may be modified by law at a later date.
 

Please carefully read the Full Official Call in order to get detailed information about the set of rules and guidelines to apply for the PhD you are interested in.

• Download the Full Official Call for the PhD in Business Administration and Management

1. How and when will my referee(s) submit their reference letters? 

Your referee(s) will be required to upload their letters by 15 May 2025 You are advised to enter and save referees’ names and e-mail addresses well before the deadline, so the referees will have time to write and upload their letters. Once you have entered your referees’ names and e-mails, click on SAVE. An automatic e-mail will be sent to the referee’s e-mail address. Therefore, you are required to check the accuracy of the addresses you are providing. We warmly suggest you to contact your referees to make sure that they receive the automatic e-mail and paid due attention.

You can indicate a maximum of two referees and one e-mail address for each referee.

Before submitting data, you are allowed to: 

- change the e-mail address(es) of your referee(s); 

- add new referee(s) (not exceeding two); 

- change the referee(s).

You can access the online procedure to check whether your reference letter(s) have been sent by referee(s) even after application’s submission; this information will be shown in the section “Referees- Contact details” as soon as the referee uploads his/her letter. We invite you to access the on-line procedure again to check.

 Please note that:

 - as soon as you change a referee, the former referee will be not able to upload anymore (please, contact the former referee in order to inform him/her that you changed the referee); 

- as soon as the referee uploads his/her letter, you will not be able to change the referee anymore Reference letters are not mandatory but they contribute to increasing your score in the final ranking.

2. How will I be informed about the final result of my application? 
Applicants are ranked according to merit.

 The ranking of each public competition is published on https://www.unibocconi.it/en/programs/phd/admissions in compliance with data privacy laws (privacy is guaranteed).

By 4 June 2025 you will be sent a personal e-mail to the address provided on-line in which information about the final outcome of the application will be found.

You will be able to access the on-line procedure using your ID and password, accessing more information, in particular:

· if your status is “with fellowship”: points awarded, ranking and financial conditions;

· if your status is “in the waiting list”: points awarded and ranking;

· if your status is “not admitted”: points awarded. 

Please read carefully the Full Official Call — art. 9 – of the PhD you are interested in for detailed information about the organization of the ranking.